House leaders are expected to decide by Friday on whether to move forward House Bill 444, the proposal to legalize civil unions in Hawaii.

House Speaker Calvin Say said he believes the votes are there to pass the measure, but he wants to be certain of a two-thirds majority — 34 of 51 members — before proceeding. The super-majority would be needed to override a veto.

Last year, HB 444 passed with 33 House Democrats in support, one absent and six siding with the six-member Republican caucus.

“;There are other members who are saying, 'Let's go (vote) ... and put it on the governor,'”; Say said, adding that the 33 who supported the bill last year may have shrunk to 31.

“;At the end of the day, if she vetoes it, I think the pressure will be back on the House members to change their votes ... up to the 34 once more.”;

Gov. Linda Lingle has not specifically said she would veto the bill, but stated she believes lawmakers should put the proposal aside and focus more on the economy and job creation.

While the governor has never equivocally stated her stance on civil unions, she previously has said she agreed with voters who approved in 1998 a constitutional amendment that limited marriage to opposite-gender couples.

The measure would grant all the benefits and privileges of marriage to couples in a civil union.

After the Senate passed the bill last week — also by a super-majority vote of 18-7 — Lingle's office declined comment, noting that the proposal still faced a vote in the House.

Lt. Gov. James “;Duke”; Aiona has been a staunch opponent, saying after the Friday vote that senators were “;clearly at odds with the people of Hawaii.”;

Say said he had not discussed the issue with Lingle, but he is mindful that some members might not want to take up such a “;volatile”; issue in an election year.

Say added he does not want to make any changes to the bill and go to conference on the proposal, and prefers a straight up or down vote.

“;I would like to get it out of the picture as quickly as possible,”; he said.